The Costco Perspective

On Monday morning I found myself at Costco getting some shopping done for my family. I knew it would be crowded in there, but I wasn’t quite ready for what I was about to experience. If you haven’t experienced Costco in the last week or so, the best I can describe it is a combination of the lines of Disneyland, the chaos of Black Friday at a busy mall and the general anxiety and agitation felt in a large international airport. Mix all that together you have the current Costco experience.

As I searched the store for the items on my list, a fellow shopper looked at my cart and observed, “I see you are stocking up as well!” Annoyed that he would lump me in with the folks buying 200 rolls of toilet paper for a two-week quarantine, I matter-of-factly replied, “Nope, I have six kids. This is just a normal shopping list for me.” I had no appetite for humor, no desire for small-talk and, as I watched the checkout lines slowly stretch to the back of the store, no time to waste if I was going to get out of there in time for an important appointment. I don’t like shopping anyway, but this was a whole other animal. I was not having a good time. I could feel my blood pressure and general irritation steadily rising as people bumped into my cart, ran their carts into the back of my legs and selfishly pushed their way through the crowds as if they were the only ones on a deadline and needing groceries. So much for social distancing!

Then I began to think of people in impoverished nations who must go for a hike several times a day, sometimes even for miles, just to get fresh, clean water. People who must gather firewood for an hour just to cook a small meal of meager portions. People who may not get to eat at all today because there is no food available. And that’s not just during strange times such as that we are now leaving in, it’s every day for them. It’s their normal life and there’s no respite. Much of their day is spent painstakingly gathering the bare necessities to survive until tomorrow. And here I am, standing in a heated building, nicely clothed, with a week’s worth of groceries sitting in my cart and I am frustrated by the inconvenience of maneuvering through a crowded store.

I am embarrassed by my attitude at times as we adjust to new routines during these recent days. I have so much to be grateful for, yet I am choosing to dwell on the negative rather than on my blessings. It’s a choice we all must make. We all have so much to be thankful for, yet we all have plenty of difficulties and even hardships in our lives as well. The question isn’t what will you experience, blessings or difficulties; the question is, which will you choose to dwell on?

Comments

Toxic Humility

We have all seen false humility: the guy who tries to hide his arrogance with feigned modesty. It’s usually pretty obvious and always obnoxious. But there is also another variation of false humility out there: toxic humility. This is often displayed in self-deprecating talk and a lack of self-confidence, belittling or undermining one’s own talents and abilities. The danger in this kind of behavior is twofold: it is too often accepted as true humility and like a virus, it spreads doubt and disbelief. To clarify, it is not that the bearer of this toxic humility isn’t honest about his view of himself. That is the very issue: he absolutely believes he has little value or utility. He thinks downplaying his own worth is humility but I disagree. CS Lewis said it best when he wrote, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking about yourself less.” His point being, true humility is not an ever-present raincloud of self-doubt that follows you around. It’s a focus on

Commitment

You know what the problem is with a lot of goals and grand plans? They are mostly fueled by emotion rather than commitment. It is why most New Year’s Resolutions are long forgotten by now and many aspirations quietly fizzle out over time. True commitment is sticking with the effort even – if and especially when – the emotion has diminished or disappeared. Emotion can be a great initiator of action, like kindling on a fire, but it lacks staying power. Commitment is the logs that keep the fire burning long after the kindling is consumed. The butterflies after falling in love, the best intentions of waking up at 4:30am every day to work out after you join a new gym, the excitement of your first day on campus, even the sleep-deprivation induced euphoria of a new baby: all kindling. But it is commitment that keeps you working hard on the marriage twenty-three years after “I do.” It is what causes you to keep going when you do not want to make one more sales call, do one more presentat

Glutton for Punishment

I’ve learned over the years that being comfortable can be a dangerous thing. I try to find paths to discomfort to push me out of my realm of “safety.” However, I have noticed my ability to develop comfort zones amidst discomfort. I’ve found ways to be comfortable in uncomfortable circumstances. I wonder, do I need to be stretched beyond those areas as well? One of the areas in which I have adapted to the discomfort is the gym. I don’t go to the gym to exercise, to get stronger or even to be healthier. It’s grown beyond that. Now, I go to the gym to clear my head by testing my will and resolve. I do it to see how hard I can push my limits and I strive to outwork everyone else there. I may not be the strongest, the fastest or the fittest. I may not lift the most weight or even do the most reps – I can’t control any of those variables – but I can control my effort. So one of my goals for each workout is to unleash more effort than anyone else at the gym. But along with this

Mindset Matters

Search This Blog